Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 141,054 call options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 86,602 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kenvue

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. NBT Bank N A NY increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 180.3% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kenvue in the first quarter worth $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 266.8% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kenvue in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Price Performance

KVUE stock opened at $14.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. Kenvue has a 52-week low of $14.02 and a 52-week high of $25.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.59.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Kenvue has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.050 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is presently 112.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on KVUE shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Kenvue from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Johnson Rice reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $18.00 target price on Kenvue in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Kenvue from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Kenvue Company Profile

Kenvue Inc operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands.